I’m writing this on Wednesday evening, but by the time you read this on Friday, I’ll be awake and preparing for BayCon down the road in San Mateo. Come by and say hi if you’ll be there!
Speaking of preparation…this is officially the second convention I’ll be going to where I’m actually taking part in panels to some degree. Which means that even though I’ll be going there mostly to have fun and meet other writers, in a way I’m also there on business. As much as I feel more at home riffing in conversations, playing off what other people are talking about, I should also ensure that I stay on subject. And more importantly, I should be prepared to bring up certain points that I’d like to share with the audience.
For two of the panels, the moderators reached out to the rest of us panelists for some preplanning and idea sharing, which I thought was a brilliant idea. [The moderator for one of the panels I was on at FogCon did the same, which helped a lot then as well.] It gives us a chance to come up with a barebones list of points to make and where we’d like the conversation to head. It also breaks the ice a bit! If you’re ever moderating a panel at a convention, I highly suggest doing this.
There’s also my half-page flyers to prep. By this, it’s just a simple address label stuck in the lower corner where I’ve written something along the lines of “I’ll be at these panels. Come and say hi!”. If someone sees these on the freebie table, then they can follow up if they so choose.
And as always, I’ll have needed to take some allergy meds and stashed a few bottles of water with me. Yapping on a panel for an hour or so does dry you out!
And lastly, A. and I are familiar with the area, as it’s just down the road from SF Airport. I’m sure the hotel will have a restaurant and probably a snack shop, but it’s good to know places nearby where we can stop for take-out on the way home!
I don’t need to prepare for every detail, of course. But doing at least the bare minimum so I’m prepared is good enough.
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Note: Monday’s blog post will either be up late or will be up on Tuesday, due to the fact that it will be the last day of the con and I have two of the panels that day. 🙂
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